Video. By Daniel Filmus (Article published in Infobae)
It has been a year since President Alberto Fernández promised to place the claim for the recovery of the effective exercise of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands as one of the priorities of his administration. In his inauguration speech before the Parliamentary Assembly, he affirmed that there was no place for colonialism in the 21st century and he addressed the issue of sovereignty from a double perspective. On the one hand, from the fulfillment of the Constitutional Clause that raises the imprescriptibility of the claim that has been sustained by our country for 187 years. On the other, from a comprehensive perspective, which promotes the South Atlantic and Antarctic areas as an economic and social development strategy, looking to the future from the enormous wealth that Argentina has in that region in terms of fishing, hydrocarbons, minerals and biodiversity.
To meet these goals, he promised to send three bills to Congress. The first one proposed the creation of the National Council of Affairs Relative to the Malvinas, South Georgias, and South Sandwich Islands and the corresponding maritime spaces. Headed by the President himself, the Council is composed of political forces with parliamentary representation, renowned academics and lawyers, the province of Tierra del Fuego and Malvinas veterans. It should advise on the design of medium and long-term policies and on the elaboration of strategies at the global, regional and national level that enables us to maintain the claim with continuity and coherence.
The second initiative consists of the demarcation of the outer limit of our continental shelf beyond 200 miles. It is the result of a true State policy carried out by the National Commission on the Outer Limit of the Continental Shelf since 1997, uninterruptedly and during governments of different party identities. This task allowed Argentina to present the complete submission of the limit of its continental shelf before the UN Secretary General in 2009. This regulation will help protect sovereign rights over the vast resources of the seabed and subsoil.
The third bill aims to defend the fishing resources that belong to 45 million Argentines. It considerably raises the fines, which until now were set at 1998 values, for those who exercise illegal fishing in Argentine waters, including those surrounding the Malvinas Islands. The regulation seeks to deter and prevent plunder by fishing vessels that enter our exclusive economic zone without permission.
Today, we can proudly state that the commitment made by the President has been fulfilled. In less than six months, these three initiatives have become laws that, passed unanimously by all the parliamentary blocs, have already been put into practice.
The National Council of Malvinas held its first three meetings. It is working on a bidding process for the exploitation of the wealth of our continental shelf. Moreover, action was taken on the capture of vessels that fish illegally in our waters, through the creation of a commission composed by the ministries of Security, Defense, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs. Meanwhile, the Pampa Azul program was relaunched, and with the participation of seven national ministries, it has given a strong boost to scientific research, which must be the basis for the enormous economic potential and environmental sustainability of the South Atlantic. Along the same lines, together with the Ministry of Defense the Summer Antarctic Campaign 2020-2021 was launched, which despite the restrictions posed by COVID-19 will challenge the difficulties to maintain the presence of our Armed Forces and our researchers in a region where Argentina keeps its sovereignty claim and on which the future of humanity largely depends.
Another important task regarding the strengthening of our claim at a global level is the work in multilateral organizations so that the international community demands that the United Kingdom comply with United Nations Resolution 2065 and that it resumes negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands. The first year of the new administration has shown important achievements towards this permanent goal. The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, the Organization of the American States (OAS), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and the MERCOSUR, among other organizations, unanimously adopted declarations that reaffirm their support for the Argentine position. For the first time, the Central American Integration System (SICA) also made a declaration in this sense. For its part, the Group of 77 and China, formed by 134 developing countries, adopted a resolution that supported not only our country's sovereign rights, but also the legal actions taken by Argentina regarding the illegitimate exploitation by the United Kingdom of the natural resources of the area in question.
Along with these actions carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notes were signed and an agreement was made with the international Red Cross and the United Kingdom that will allow to move forward with the pending identification of the Argentine soldiers fallen in Malvinas.
The year 2020 marks the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Malvinas Islands by the expedition of Fernando de Magallanes , the 200th anniversary of the first raising of the Argentine flag in the archipelago by David Jewett, and the 55th anniversary of the adoption, with no negative votes, of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2065. We come to the end of the first year of this administration knowing that, despite the progress made in the fulfillment of the promises made by President Alberto Fernández when he took office, much remains to be done. We will only succeed in our claim if we manage to turn the Malvinas Cause into a State policy that goes beyond the government in office and regards the desire and permanent hope of all Argentines. With this conviction we will keep working so that the national flag is raised again on our beloved islands.
